Kate and the Life Lesson

This is Kate...

She's 16. She needs a job.

This is why she needs a job...

I wish I knew how to make this bigger, so in case you don't have a magnifying glass available at your computer...that's her cell phone bill for $92.20. When she got the cell phone, the agreement was she would pay us $10/month for her line and any charges accrued due to going over her texting limit.

The last 2 years she has had a great summer job. She and her brother sold produce at the local Farmer's Market. It was hard work, but they made a nice little profit. At the close of last year, she said she wouldn't be working at the Farmer's Market because she would be 16 and would have a "real" job.

So far, no "real" job has materialized. And she wrinkles up her nose in disdain at the mention of fast food emporiums. Personally, I rather liked my high school job at McDonald's. I learned some valuable life lessons--how to multi-task, how to interact with the public, etc. As well as some great sayings..."If you have time to lean, you have time to clean"; "If you have time to talk, you have time to stock".

Anyway, back to Katelyn. She's 16. She drives. She's great with kids and running errands. Until a "real" job becomes available, she is available for hire.

The Hot Rod and Kate

I'm not sure what precipitated the action taken today, but David decided that Katelyn needed to learn how to drive a stick shift. So he took her out for a drive in the Honda. It is funny how differently the two of us (Dave and I) refer to the Honda. I call it the "baby car" and he calls it the "hot rod". Thinking about learning to drive a stick shift reminded me of the time I taught my brother Dan to drive a manual. For the most part, he is a pretty unflappable guy. But almost running into a fire hydrant while trying to turn a corner caused him to stop the car, get out, and refuse to drive for the rest of the day. After a couple of hours (or maybe the next day), we practiced again. This time the results were much better. Good thing, too, because he needed to drive a manual so he could drive his Jeep or his Mustang. He had a rough life. So Katelyn's lesson must either be going very well or very poorly because they have been out for almost an hour. Let's hope for well--makes for a much more pleasant evening when she's not all moody.

Day 6: We Hitchhiked and Laid on the Beach

Day 6, already?! Well we had to finish like we started...with a hike. This one was an 11 mile round trip hike with the promise of a waterfall about half-way through.

We drove all the way to the top of Waimea Canyon. The trailhead was supposed to be right before the Kokee lodge. Well we went to where we thought it should be. No trailhead. But there was a little break in the bushes that looked promising so we started bushwacking. I was getting a little concerned, so I sent Dave on up about 50 feet to check things out. And lo and behold, a beautiful wide trail with no need for bushwacking. We laughed so hard once we got on the right trail. We're still not sure how we missed the correct trailhead.

The vegetation and scenery was spectacular. We hiked towards to the NaPali Coast. We paused at about mile 3 to pose for a picture.

Shortly after this picture was taken the week of living mostly as a fruititarian and the walking began to wreak havoc on my GI system. And I became a woman on a mission--to finish the last 8 miles as fast as I could. You can bet Dave and I had some words all along that last 8 miles as he insisted that I couldn't take care of business before I arrived back at the ranger station. I told him we'd just have to see how things progressed. And then proceeded to almost kill him as I practically raced up the 1500' elevation gain (don't worry, that was spread out over the last 3 miles).

We did happen upon some mountain goats along the way. But fortunately no hunters even though it was hunting season and the ranger told us there were hunters out on the trails.

There were some vistas to hike to, but due to the urgency of GI issues, we did not hike to them. It will definitely be something to do the next time we go. And unfortunately the promised waterfall was dry because of the drought Kauai is having.

The trail popped us out onto the Waimea Canyon Road about 2 miles from our car. And even though I was feeling better about this time, we decided to hitchhike back to our car. We were picked up by a guy visiting from Germany and had a nice little chat the two miles down to our car. Side note: I need to work on my listening to foreign accent skills because I only understood about half of what he said.

Anyway, after we finished we decided to hit the beach. So back to Poipu State Park we went. I decided that I just wanted to lay on the beach. Dave snorkeled for one last time. I had about 2 hours to just bask in the sunshine and think.

I discovered how truly blessed I am. Blessed with a husband who works so hard for our family. Blessed that we could take this wonderful trip together. Blessed in so many other ways. But I also realized I need to do a much better job in giving back. I'm formulating a plan.

Sunday we woke up and left paradise. But we returned to our daily paradise with our kids.

Day5: Shopping, Pretty Toes, and a Luau

Photo from Smith's Tropical Paradise,where we went for the luau

Ah, Day 5. Another laid back day. We spent the morning shopping at the little stores around our resort. We found some fun things. I came home with some beautiful prints to hang in our bedroom (I promise, Dave, I will find picture frames as soon as school gets out). I got this really cool thing for my mom and dad for Christmas. I can't wait to give it to them.

But the day wouldn't have been complete without an adventure so we found another hike, to another waterfall. Do you remember the show, Fantasy Island? And do you remember the waterfall from the opening of the show? Me, neither. But David did and so when he found out that the waterfall was on Kauai, he really wanted to go visit it. And so we did. The view from the top of the falls was impressive, but Dave wanted to see it from below. The only problem was that there were several signs posted about not going down the trail...Private Property, Danger, things like that. We went any way. The trail was very steep and muddy. I can see why the state is not thrilled about having people down there.

See, doesn't that look steep? Scary.

But we made it down to the bottom and, of course, had to take a picture. And since most people obey the signs, we had to use the self-timer on the camera again. Time down: 22 minutes

Time at waterfall: 15 minutes

Time back up: 6 minutes--I really don't like going down, but up is great.

So what is the pretty toes all about? Well, I decided that after a week of hiking and playing in the sand, my feet need some pampering. We had about 90 minutes before the luau started so I got a pedicure at the resort. It was so worth the price! Sorry, no pictures of my cute toes.

The luau was fun and the grounds were beautiful. For some reason those pictures don't seem to be on the computer.

Day 4: We Slept In and Then We Hung With Crush

The rush and adventure of the previous three days finally caught up to us on Thursday so we did something that we rarely do. We slept in. Until almost 10. And then when we got up, we were pretty laid back in getting ready for the day. It was fun to do something different. Who knew that sleeping in and not rushing to get ready for a day's worth of activities could be so refreshing? The laid back approach to the day must have been good kharma for finding Crush and his buddies. We went back to our favorite beach on the northside of the island--the one with the reef shark sighting. But when the beach looks like this...how could you not go back? And we both took turns following the sea turtles around as they floated lazily in the ocean current around the reef. We finished up the day by sharing a coconut and making smoothies for dinner.

(It's a good thing we didn't stay on the island longer because I would have been totally converted to fruitarian)

Well, are you completely bored with this little vacation re-cap? Don't worry, 4 days down and only 2 left. If you are bored of this, feel free to tune out until next week when I have to return to posting about real life--like the recent news report that says short people have a greater chance of heart disease. When I heard that, it reminded me of the 70's song Short People Ain't Got No Reason.

Day 3: Cowabunga...We Zipped!

I have always wanted to zip-line, but I'm a girl with serious issues when it comes to height...vertigo so bad that one time I commando-crawled out to the edge of a cliff rather than walk out like everyone else to peek over the edge.

But this company's set-up was just right. You left from a platform that wasn't very far off the ground and then just zipped across a canyon. It was a blast! We had some pretty goofy guides that made it a requirement to take a goofy picture before you went on the last zip, hence the picture at the top of this post and this picture

Dave and I "raced" on the last zip of the day. Dave played cinematographer and videoed the last zip while we were sailing across the canyon

Did I mention that there was a waterfall that we hiked to? Yep, there was and of course Dave had to jump in.

So do you think the zipline was our last adventure of the day? Nope. We got the scoop the day before from some locals about a really good snorkeling beach, so away we went.

The beach was beautiful, not too crowded, and the snorkeling was great. So many fish. The only drawback? Well I overhead a conversation between some guys and the one said to his buddy, "Did you see the monk seal?" Buddy, "Nope." 1st guy, "Yep, first I saw the seal and then I saw the reef shark". Oh I would have been much happier not hearing that conversation--ignorance is bliss. But Dave was so proud of me even though I was done snorkeling for the day, I agreed to go back to the same beach the next day.

And now I finish this post with another scenery picture and some fish.

Day 2: Sea Turtle. Flying Fish! DOLPHIN!

This day we took a catamaran ride up the NaPali Coast. Honestly some of the prettiest scenery I have seen. And this day was another day when I was reminded that prayer works. I woke up that morning feeling nauseous and just waiting for the upchucking to start. I prayed all the way to the pick-up location that I would feel better. I even had Dave pray for me. We got to the boat and I was still feeling pretty queesy. I went to the front of the boat, laid back against the boat and closed my eyes. After about 20 minutes all was well. Truly an answer to prayer.

So how about some boring scenery pictures, huh? Here you go...

After we travelled up the coast for awhile, it was time for some snorkeling and lunch. A picture to prove that I did, indeed, snorkel. Here's a well-known fact about me--I am not thrilled about going in the ocean. I have an irrational fear of sharks.

Snorkeling was actually pretty fun and lunch was great for Dave. It was sandwhiches, fruit and chips so I ate a Cliff Bar and fruit. Yay me.

The return trip was quite the rodeo ride. The swells were anywhere from 5' to 6'. Here are two pictures of the ride home. Can you find a difference (besides that I am holding onto my hat in one of the pictures)? Hint: if you need a hint, leave a comment, but it does have to do with hats.

We did see some fun things on the way back, but no pictures. :-( First was the sea turtle. That was neat. Then was the flying fish. A little more exciting. And then, the dolphin! That was way cool.

We finished up the tour and drove around some of the little towns--Princeville and Hanalei. Dave bought me a yummy fish taco because my Cliff Bar and fruit didn't keep me full for very long.

We drove back to the hotel, showered, and then walked to a little strip mall near our condo. And we had Lappert's ice cream for dinner. It was an awesome day.

Day One: Guinness, NO!

I love to hike anywhere. David likes to hike to a destination, like a waterfall. Fortunately for us, Kauai has lots of waterfalls. Unfortunately for me, that usually involves hiking down. Unfortunately for Dave, what goes down, must come up.

This was a nice little hike (about 6 miles round trip) with some interesting adventures along the way. First we encountered... Wild chickens. There were chickens everywhere on Kauai. Apparently several years ago there was a hurricane that destroyed many of the chicken coops on the island. And since there aren't really any predators (meaning NO SNAKES), the chickens multiplied and filled the island.

Continuing on the hike, we encountered... A fallen cherry tree! Yep, you read that right. A cherry tree. We could see the path through the mess, so up and over the tree we went.

Just a few hundred yards up from the tree, we met Guinness and his owner, and Guinness's pack. The guy was a local who was out picking something. Guinness was his big American bulldog cross and his buddies looked like pit bull crosses of some sort. There are no pictures of Guiness because after he tried to bite David's hand off, we moved away carefully, but quickly.

Next, we made it to the ridge. It was pretty cool to look out over the Waimea Canyon.

Finally, we made it to the pretty waterfall (where we learned how to use the automatic timer on our camera so we could take pictures together).

Time down to waterfall: 1 hr 10 min.

Time at waterfall: 25 min.

Time up and back to car: 40 min.

After returning to the car, we drove back down the canyon and had a discussion about "not making this a Rattlesnake Canyon experience and grounds for divorce". Meaning, Dave, Watch.The.Road. and not the scenery while driving, please.

Making it successfully down the canyon, we ate at the yummy Shrimp Station and then went to see Spouting Horn. From there it was snorkeling at Poipu State Park. It was a very full day.

I Didn't Die, But I Was Visiting Paradise For A Bit

So March and April were great blogging months for me. I had high hopes for May--I wanted to post at least 10 times. But then there was the whole 1/2 marathon debaucle and I lost all motivation for almost everything. I didn't feel like I had anything worth blogging about because I was still frustrated about the race and I was having a hard time letting it go. But letting go has been accomplished and stepping back from the frustration allowed me to learn some valuable lessons. Some physical lessons and some spiritual lessons. Interesting.

But I'm back to blogging. Mostly because I have a whole arsenal of things to blog about. Well, at least a week's worth of activities to blog about. You see last week Dave and I visited the beautiful isle of Kauai. We were celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary (a couple of months early).

While in Kauai, we blew some people away when we said that we were celebrating 20 years and that we have 2 children ages 16 and almost 14. In Kauia, we hiked and snorkeled and zip-lined and snorkeled and hiked. Oh and layed on the beach for a couple of hours one day.

In Kauai, I discovered that I have turned into my father as I came back with more "boring scenery pictures" than I really care to admit. But I have teen-agers to torture so the pictures are necessary. Plus, the pictures provide me with blogging fodder.

So be prepared to be bored out of your mind's for the next week as I relive our Kauai adventure through pictures and words.